Flooring for cars and the like



July 20,1926. 1,592,833

W. H. LAWRENCE FLOORING FOR CARS.AND THE LIK Filed Dec. 6, 1924 4 Il /2Il 2 1f Patenten .hay 2o, 192s.

UNlTEDs-TATES wILLun n. LAWRENCE,

FLOORING FOR CARS AND THE LIKE.

Application led December 6, 1924. Serial` No. 754,277.

This invention relates to floor-in and has for its ,principal Object toprovi e a floor composed of a foundation structure having sufficientstrength to carry the load, and

,5 a covering that is light in weight, resilient and easy under foot,and not(slippery; that will flex with the foundation structure withoutcracking and without parting from the foundation structure; that willresist ing to this-invention;

moisture and protect the foundation structure from moisture and othercorroding agents; that Vwill resist heat and retard fire; that will notform dust in service, and that can be ,easily and economically placedand repaired. l

These and `other objects are accomplished by covering the foundationstructure with bituminous concrete includin a well graded aggregate ofporous or cellu ar material.

Further objects and advantages of the invention 'will become apparent asthe dis-v closure proceeds and the description is read in connectionwith the accompanying drawings illustrating a selected embodiment of theinvention, andin which Fig. 1 is a partial 'sectional view of a modernsteel car with a iioormade' accordy Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken onthe line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a partial sectional View, illustrating a car having a woodenfloor covered in accordance with this'invention.

In steel lpassenger cars the underframe 10, (Fig. 1), is equipped withnailing strips 11, and on these is fastened a sheet steel foundationfloor 1,2 having its edges turned upwardly, asl indicated at 13, anddownwardly and inwardly, as shown at 14. This foundation is made of thinsteel and, in order to give it the necessary rigidity, is provided withcorrugations, or ribs 15 (Fig. 2).

" Upon this foundation is laid a coating approximately one inch inthickness, of concrete composed of a cellular mineral material, likecoke, or such material mixed with a cellular vegetable material likecorkor sawdust, or a cellular 'animal material like granulated leather wasteand a fine mineral material like limestone dust, pulverized slate, linesand `and a bituminous cement. The cellular form of coke makes itpossible to use that material for all the graded sizes down to therelatively fine, Without rendering the aggregate heavy, but there is noparticular advantage in using coke for the fine particles since in suchsize it no longer contains sulicient cells, or-voids, to give it theadvantage of lightness.

Cork is lighter than coke and on that account is of some advantage foruse in thev `large granular form, but when cork 1s reduced t'orelatively small grains and mixed with as halt, the voids will not befilled unless tiie mixture is compressed and held under pressure untilset. This is also true of sawdust and granulated leather and cellularmaterial of other than mineral origin. However, if thevcork,sawdust, andthe like used are chieiy in relatively large pieces and the-remainderlof the aggregate is mineral matter, the voids will become filled in theoperation ofv mixing with the bituminous cement, and nopressure need beapplied'during the time required for setting.

For nthese reasons I' prefer to use coke for the principal portion ofthe aggregate including the graded sizes down to the point .where theycease to be cellular, then add sufiicientl limestone dust, pulverizedcement, or the like to fill the small interstices and then provide-onlysuiiicient asphalt to cover the surfaces of the aggregate and cementthem together. With the properly graded sizes this concrete can beproduced with a 0F NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO JOHNS-MANVILLE, INC.,.A-'CORPORATION 0F NEW YORK.

weight notvexceeding eighty-live pounds per y cubic foot.

Using cork and coke in about equal parts byvolume concrete can beproduced with a weight not exceeding eighty-three pounds per cubic foot,and with a similar mixture of sawdust and coke the weight can be rcducedto seventy-eight pounds per cubic foot.

The work'. of mixing is facilitated by first ,incorporating the fineaggregate with the asphalt and then adding the larger' particles ofaggregate. The asphalt is placed in a mixer equippedv with means forheating and mechanically agitating the contents. When it has becomefluid, the iine material, for example, 200 mesh, limestone dust is addedslowly and the mass agitated to work the line particles into the asphaltindividually .and eliminate balls or lumps.

added .slowly and the agitation continued .until the mass becomeshomogenous. It is then deposited in a thin layer on the foundationstructure of the floor and worked withlioats to produce the desired formof surface and to bring an excess of asphalt to that surface, afterwhich it is allowed to cool and set.

Because of the difficulty of properly mixing the ne aggregate andasphalt it is preferably done as a separate process where large stillsequipped with mechanical agitators can be economically operated` and themixture formed into blocks of conven- .ient size for handling andshipping, or

' mastic blocks heretofore made for other blocks and asphalt.

.The following proportions haveibeen arrived at by experimentation. andare at present1 preferred vNo. 1.

560 lbs. coke (all passing 10 mesh), 240 lbs. mastic blocks, 90 lbs.flux, the analysis of which shows the content as follows'- Coke 63%,flux 10.1%, sand 7.2%, matrix 3.4%, limestone 16.3%.

No. Z.

320 lbs. equal parts by volume of cork, passing l mesh and coke, passingNo. 10 mesh, the analysis of which shows the con tent as follows- Equalparts by volume, cork passing 1li mesh and coke passing No. 10 mesh49.3%, liux 13.7%, sand 10%, matrix 4.8%, limestone 22.2%.

M No. 3.

320 lbs. equal parts by volume passing No. 10 mesh of coke and sawdust,the analysis of which shows the content as follows- `Equal parts byvolume passingV No. 10 mesh of coke and sawdust 49.3%, flux 4 13.7%,sand 10%, matrix 4.8%, limestone 22.2%. Clean hardwood sawdust ispreferred, but softer wood sawdust may be used with very good results.However, the exact peroportions of coke to sawdust will have to variedwith the character of the sawdust.

This floor covering will adhere tenaciously and uniformly to thefoundation loor structure and protectl it from moisture or othercorroding liquids, act as an insulating lining for the floor protectingthe interior of the.

car from either cold or heat beneath `the* car. At the same time it hassuiicient elasticity to permit it to Hex easily with the foundationfloor. structure and to present a resilient cushion to the foot; and ithas a surface that is not slippery and does notgenerate dust under wear.

While these characteristics make the covering particularly suited foruse with a metal foundation structure it also combines well withtherwooden foundation.'A For example, in Fig. 3,16 indicates the woodfloor and 17 the wood siding of a freight car, the latter being rabbetedadjacent to the floor, as indicated at 18. Expanded metal of greaterwidth than the car is secured by staples -19 and has its edges turned upinto the rabbets and Secured to the siding by staples 20. 21 indicates alayer of bituminous concrete ofthe character above described, extendingacross the floor throu h and over the expanded metal and llingt erabbeted corners of the siding.

Use has been made of specific description and illustrationin order todisclose the in` vention, but it is intended that nothing containedherein shall unnecessarily limit the following claims, or require aconstruction thereof that would permit the substance of the invention toVbe used without infringement. K

I claim as my invention- 1. A ioor for cars and the like comprising afoundation structure of sufficient strength aoA to carry the load to besupported and t'o V withstand the racking stresses to which it issubjegted and a covering of asphaltic concrete forming the wearingsurface of the lioor having an aggregate including a cellular materialin relatively large pieces and another material in fine particles. A

2. A fioor for ca rs and the like comprising a foundation structure ofsuiicient strength to carry the4 load to be supported and to withstandthe' racking stresses to which it is subjected and a covering ofasphaltic concrete forming the wearm Surface of the floor having anaggregate mcluding a cel1u. lar material rich in relatively large piecesand lean in liner pieces and another cellular aggregate rich in smallerpieces.

3. A floor for cars and the like comprising a foundation structure ofsuicient strength to carry the load to be supported and to withstand theracking stresses to which it is subjected, and a covering of asphalticconcrete forming the wearing surface of the floor having an aggregateincluding cork in coarse granular form and another material of mineralori 4. A Hoor for cars and the l e compris-l ing a foundation structureof suilicient strength to carry the load to be supported which it issubjected and a covering of asplialtic concrete forming the Wearingsurface of the floor having an aggregate including cellular vegetablematter, cellular mineral matter and a fine grained filler.

5. A floor for cars and the like comprising a foundation structure ofsuficient strength to carry the load to be supported and to withstandthe racking stresses to which it is subjectedl` and a covering ofasphaltic concrete forming the Wearing surface of the Hoor having anaggregate including coke in coarse granular form and a filler of linegranular form.

6. A'floor for cars and the like comprising a foundation structure ofsuficient strength to carry the load to be supported and to withstandthe racking stresses to which it is subjected, and a covering ofasphaltic concrete forming the Wearing surface of the floor having anaggregate including coke and cork in granular form.

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature.

WILLIAM H. LAWRENCE.

